Gore embraces Dean - and new political style

Endorsement is aimed at rallying Democrats behind antiestablishment Internet-age modes.

By Linda Feldmann and Liz Marlantes | Staff writers of The Christian Science Monitor

WASHINGTON – Al Gore's stunning endorsement Tuesday of Howard Dean for president may not be about left versus center or even ideology at all. It's about energy, the future of the Democratic Party, and perhaps the future of politics itself.
Former Vice President Gore, who nearly won the presidency three years ago and remains a standard-bearer for his party, is clearly trying to get Democrats to coalesce around Dr. Dean and focus on unseating President Bush. But by endorsing Dean, he may also be hastening the reinvention of his party - or deepening its division in an election year.

Mr. Gore's goals were clearly much larger than a single candidate: In his endorsement speech in Harlem, he spoke of a need to "remake the Democratic Party." According to sources close to Gore, the party's 2000 nominee above all else appreciates the way that Dean has bypassed the party "establishment" and gone straight to the people - harnessing the tremendous reach of the Internet as a tool for organizing and fundraising.

"If you understand the Internet, you understand that this is the coming to fruition of the full potential of the Internet, and that Dean has used it to transform politics," says Elaine Kamarck, an adviser to Gore who teaches at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

more: http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1210/p01s01-uspo.html?usaNav

Gore clearly stated that the war was his biggest reason for endorsing Dean. That this war was the single biggest policy mistake we've seen in a long time. And the Democrats needed a candidate who, like Dean, will run on a platform of having opposed that war.

For Gore this is obviously a huge issue. Kucinich would be his only other strong choice in this regard.

All this other crap of searching for "meta-reasons" is just for the press to avoid talking about THE WAR - Chimpy's real liability in this race, and Gore wants to see Bush eat this war that he has gotten us into.

Other candidate who would have to be mealy-mouthed about the war for other reasons would not be as effective at this.

See http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh121003.shtml for more meta-analysis of what Gore stated very clearly.